Bentley Systems has released V8i, a "software portfolio for infrastructure professionals" that aims to make it easier for engineers, architects, contractors and project owner/operators to share information as they collectively design, build, operate and maintain things.

In a conference call last week, Bentley CEO Greg Bentley said the release comes at a key time, as sustainability initiatives face a global bottleneck and aging infrastructures increasingly pose a risk to the public. An "intelligent infrastructure cycle," in which participants benefit from interoperable software tools, increases the return on investment since "information reuse [is] a rule and not an exception," Bentley said. "All of us who create infrastructure...we can keep adding value as information is reused. Information modeling is the key."

V8i's core capabilities can be stated as the five things that the "I" in its name stands for, said Bentley senior vice president Bhupinder Singh. These capabilities are the following:

• Intuitive design modeling, with conceptual tools for solids and surfaces and the new Luxology rendering engine;
• Interactive dynamic views, with a simplified process for creating 3D models;
• Intrinsic geo-coordination, which offers the ability to locate files in Bentley's ProjectWise or in Google Earth;
• "Incredible" project performance, which is aided by integration with Microsoft SharePoint; and
• Interoperability, as the software can use documents from file formats such as PDF, DGN, DWG and ISO 15926. (Additional information about this functionality is available in Bentley's Interoperability Platform White Paper.)

The V8i home page includes links to the product's core capabilities and to user testimonials (both in print and in video).